Archive for the ‘South Bend Indiana’ tag

Studebaker administration building, as seen in 2007. Photo by John Penrice.

When Studebaker left South Bend 50 years ago, it didn’t just leave behind thousands of newly unemployed workers; it also left behind dozens of buildings and factories, some of them dating back to the turn of the century. And while other car manufacturers’ old haunts haven’t aged all that well, at least two of Studebaker’s more significant facilities – its former administration building and its main assembly plant – not only remain standing today, but have been treated to recent renewal efforts.

Two different renewal efforts have targeted the buildings. As the South Bend Tribune wrote earlier this year, the current owners of the four-story administration building have been cleaning it out and tearing down some non-historical additions to the building to prepare it for a forthcoming adaptive reuse plan and a marketing effort aimed at attracting new tenants. Meanwhile, Building 84, where much of the final assembly of Studebaker cars took place, sold not long ago to the same developer that has already revitalized South Bend’s neighboring Union Station into a high-tech data center.

Designed by architectural firm S.S. Beman of Chicago, the 149,000-square-foot administration building opened in June 1909 on the corner of Main Street and Bronson Street. As much a showpiece and community center for the company as a headquarters, it boasted a second-floor showroom for the company’s wares, a 22-scene mural depicting the history of transportation, a 55,000-square-foot lobby, what was described as the largest commercial library in the world at the time, a two-lane bowling alley, gymnasium, bank, and cafeteria. Though updated in the early 1960s under Sherwood Egbert’s tenure as president of the company, many of the original fixtures remain with the building today, and the all-concrete construction shows no signs of deterioration more than a century later.

According to a history of the building published in the March 2007 issue of the Studebaker Driver’s Club newsletter, Turning Wheels, Studebaker abandoned the administration building when it left South Bend in December 1963 but didn’t find a taker for the building until a few years later, when it sold the building to the city of South Bend for $1. The city in turn sold it to the South Bend Community School Corporation, which used the building as its own administration headquarters until the fall of 2006. It then sold to the current owner, Phoenix-based Dudley Ventures, in 2009; Dudley has spent the last few years securing and stabilizing the building, in the process eliminating some additions made through the years, and according to the Tribune is just about ready to market it to interested parties after eight years of vacancy; what sort of parties might be interested in it, the company has yet to say.

Studebaker Building 84 and South Bend’s Union Station, as seen in 2007. Photo by John Penrice.

Built in 1923, Studebaker’s Building 84 sits just across Lafayette Street from the administration building, up against the same railroad tracks. It dwarfed the administration building at six stories tall and with a total of more than 800,000 square feet under its roof and housed Studebaker’s paint and trim facilities as well as its final assembly line for Studebaker automobiles, excluding the Avanti. While it apparently never went completely vacant following the Studebaker withdrawal from South Bend – now also known as the Ivy Tower, in recent years it has housed manufacturing facilities, warehousing operations, small offices, and winter storage for automobiles, according to Indiana Landmarks – local developer Kevin Smith plans to bring the building into the digital age. He has already converted neighboring Union Station into a data center and – through an $18 million partnership with the city – plans to expand those operations into Building 84 and add both offices and residential space to the facility.

“It doesn’t happen overnight,” he told the South Bend Tribune, “but, if you have commitment and a vision, it will happen.”

Fifty years ago today, the Studebaker automotive assembly line in South Bend, Indiana, shut down. While the company continued to build cars in Hamilton, Ontario, for the next couple of years, the company’s fate as a car builder was effectively sealed with the move, bringing to an end more than a century of vehicle production in the city. Next month, local historians and authors will take part in a panel discussion aimed at sorting out the facts from the fictions surrounding the closing.

Founded in 1852 as a blacksmithing company, Studebaker moved quickly into building wagons and then in 1902 into building automobiles. By the early 1960s, the auto company was bleeding red ink; the parent corporation had successfully diversified in prior years, ensuring its survival even without the auto company, and a number of Sherwood Egbert’s efforts to keep Studebaker afloat in those later years – including the Avanti, the sliding-roof Wagonaire, and a refresh of the compact Lark – could only stem the bleeding, if not make it worse. A strike by Studebaker’s auto workers in early 1962 certainly didn’t help the situation, nor did increased competition from AMC and the Big Three in the early 1960s in the compact car market, or the loss of Egbert due to his battle with cancer toward the end of 1963.

According to Patrick Foster’s Studebaker, The Complete History, Studebaker’s auto division lost more than $25 million in 1963, prompting the parent corporation to announce on December 9 the transfer of all automotive production from its South Bend plant to its Hamilton plant. Company officials pointed out at the time that South Bend’s antiquated facilities were inefficient when it came to lower volumes of car production, while the more modern Hamilton plant could still operate at a profit at lower volumes. “Therefore we have decided to live with the sales we have rather than to continue to hope they will improve,” then-president Byers Burlingame said. They didn’t even remain static (plummeting from 82,675 in 1963 to 46,460 in 1964, then to 19,435 in 1965 and 8,947 in 1966), and Studebaker auto production in Canada only lasted through March 1966.

Next month’s panel discussion, hosted by the Studebaker National Museum, will bring together first-hand accounts and experts in Studebaker history to explore those final days of South Bend production. Panelists will include Jack Colwell, who reported on the closure as it took place for the South Bend Tribune; Robert Ebert, author of the book Champion of the Lark; and Studebaker historian and Hemmings Classic Car columnist Bob Palma. Andrew Beckman, archivist for the museum, will moderate the discussion.

The panel discussion will take place at 1 p.m. January 8 in the museum’s Wiekamp Auditorium. Admission to the discussion is included with paid admission to the museum. For more information, visit StudebakerMuseum.org.

There were many good deals in the car corral at the international Studebaker meet in South Bend, Indiana, including this 1956 President and the 1962 Lark behind it
photo courtesy Richard Lentinello

I just got back from the big international Studebaker meet in South Bend, Indiana, home of Studebaker Automobiles, and was blown away by the incredible selection of well-restored Studebakers in attendance.

Most interesting was the extensive car corral, where there were several really good deals to be had. Apart from the usual club car corral, several area residents, many of whom were former Studebaker employees or had family members who worked on the nearby assembly line, brought their Studebakers to the show to sell with very reasonable prices tagged to the windows.

This very clean, low-mileage 1956 President was a great buy at only $10,500; it came equipped with the famously durable Studebaker 289-cu.in. V-8, overdrive transmission, and power everything.

In the background was a ’62 Lark, which I almost took home with me. As an original South Carolina car, it had little rust and the paint appeared to be mostly original. Its straight-six ran smooth and the A/C blew “ice cold.” Its owner was asking a mere $2,900 for this unpolished gem, which came complete with a new interior.

So keep club conventions in mind when shopping for your next collector car; you just might be able to find your dream car for a price that you thought no longer existed.

(This post originally appeared in the June 28, 2007, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

In just a few weeks, some of the finest Studebakers in the U.S. and Canada will be gathering in Spokane, Washington for the 41st Annual International Studebaker Meet. The convention, which is the yearly get-together of The Studebaker Drivers Club, begins on August 14, with Concours Day held on Thursday, August 18. Studebaker owners are a very enthusiastic bunch and they really support their convention, so expect to see about 500 outstanding Studebakers of all years and models on display.
If Washington is too far for you to travel, how about Nebraska instead? For 2006, the city of Omaha will host the annual convention from September 24-29. And in 2007, the meet heads “home” to South Bend, Indiana where the Studebaker National Museum will host the festivities from June 18-22. For more details visit www.sdcmeet.org.

(This post originally appeared in the June 30, 2005, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)